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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24576022">This is How Liberty Dies</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorkomatic/pseuds/Dorkomatic'>Dorkomatic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:08:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,861</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24576022</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorkomatic/pseuds/Dorkomatic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Qui-Gon was wrong, and Anakin was never the chosen one in the first place? His training and legacy was always destined to result in destruction. </p><p>ENDING OF TROS REWRITTEN. Rey doesn't defeat Palpatine, Kylo Ren lives, and the real Chosen One is revealed. This One-Shot assumes canon up until just before the Jedi spirits start talking to Rey during the final battle. Some Reylo.</p><p>Takes some inspiration from KOTOR and Star Wars Legends. </p><p>WARNINGS: TROS SPOILERS, CHARACTER DEATH</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s), Kylo Ren/Rey, Original Female Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>This is How Liberty Dies</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first attempt at fanfiction. I have never had a talent for creative writing, constructive criticism is welcome. If there is a positive response to this one-shot I may consider making it into a full story.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rey collapses to the cold floor of the sith temple on exegol, feeling the force draining out of her as if an hourglass has been flipped. It is only a matter of time now. </p><p>Palpatine laughs as she tries to raise herself from the floor with the force she has left, begging her Jedi ancestors for strength. She hears nothing. The darkness of this place is too dense for even the totality of the Jedi to  penetrate. Her body falls to the stone floor for the last time with a thud.. </p><p>“So, this is how liberty dies...” She unknowing echos the words of Padme as her own last. She looks up at the sky above her, seeing her friends being blasted out of the sky by the numerous final order ships.</p><p>Palpatine extinguishes what is left of the force in her with one last blow of  lighting. Upon the death of the last jedi a ripple in the force was created which would spread out into the galaxy and heard like a distress signal by every force sensitive remaining, if there were any.</p><p>Palpatine smiles to himself with a knowing smile. He has but one last task to complete before the Final Order fleet departs to take over all that is left. He had made a promise to Kylo Ren, that he would give him the galaxy. The sith are not known for keeping their promises.</p><p>Palpatine climbs the stone steps and sits himself on the throne, the perfect vantage point to witness destiny fulfilled. The sith audience which he summoned for the final battle dissipated into the darkness. Silence fills the temple. For a few moments it feels as if silence will be the final note but it is broken by the sound of shifting rubble in the ravine that the last Skywalker was cast into. </p><p>Ben Solo pulls himself over the edge of the revine, bloodied and injured. He cares nothing about Palpatine sitting on the throne. He sees only Rey. Desperately, he reaches out for the force bond , but there is nothing. He cannot feel her. She is gone. He drags himself to her and pulls her body into his lap. A tear rolls down his cheek. </p><p>“No… no no no… you cannot leave me like this! Rey!” He yells into the darkness, as if her spirit may still be there to listen. He places a kiss on her dead lips as her body begins to fade into the force. Her empty clothes are soon the only thing remaining of the jedi that could have been.</p><p>“NOOOOOO!!!!” His screams echo through the temple. The pain of having his soul ripped in half is almost more than he can bear. </p><p>A chuckle coming from the direction of the Sith thrown pulls him from the moment. Ben Solo turns his head to see Palpatine sitting on the throne with a grin on his face. Ben’s rage begins to boil and the holes in his soul left by the light begin to fill with the dark. The soothing balm of the darkness is not one Ben can resist as Kylo Ren awakens within him. The familiar feeling of the dark side of the force bolsters his strength and heals his wounds.</p><p>“My boy, look what you have done.” Palpatine’s voice sounds more like that of a father than of a Sith Lord. “You are alone now. No mother, no father, no uncle, no Rey… but I am here for you. I have always been here. I am your true Master.”</p><p>Kylo Ren sends Palpatine a chilling glare as he pulls the Skywalker saber to his hand using the force.</p><p>Palpatine chuckles, “So you want to kill me now, do you? Do you hate me, Skywalker?”</p><p>Ren raises himself from the ground as pure hatred spills from his heart and flows into every inch of his body. “I will never bow before you.” He lights the saber and the bright blue light fades into blood red. </p><p> A whisper flows through the temple like a breeze. It is the whisper of all the Sith Lords that have gone before. “Remember the rule of two…..One to embody power and the other to crave it.”</p><p>Palpatine’s grin disappears from his face as the realization hits him. His time is over.</p><p>Kylo Ren leaps from the ground and plunges the red saber into the Sith Master’s gut, never breaking eye contact with the sith lord. </p><p> “After all these years I never suspected….. If I knew it was going to be you I would have killed you long ago.” The sith lord says as he coughs more blood onto his chest. </p><p>Ren stands above the dying man, “What do you mean?”</p><p>Palaptine draws in a few more labored breaths and sputters out his last words, interrupted with blood curdled coughs and wheezes. “You, my final success, have accomplished what Vader never could…... Your training is complete, your ascension ensured.…. Darth Ren.” With that, Palpatine’s eyes cloud over with death and the last exhale leaves his body with a shudder.</p><p>One would think that Kylo Ren would feel shock at the revelation or triumph with the death of the old sith. Instead, he feels nothing. The Darkness in his soul devoids him of any kind of sentiment. Unceremoniously, he  yanks palpatine’s empty husk from the throne and allows it flop down the steps and land next to Rey’s abandoned crowel.</p><p>“Supreme Leader, the resistance ships have been destroyed!” Ren had not noticed that stormtroopers and their captain had finally arrived in the temple throne room. “The fleet is ready to depart, what are your orders, Sir?”</p><p>“Tell the Generals that the Emperor has ordered that the fleet be dispatched to the remainder of the worlds that have not fallen to The Order. If they resist, destroy them.” His voice was cold, and dripping with malice. The stormtrooper looked at the body of Palpatine resting on the floor.</p><p>“Emperor who, Sir?” he asked, stupidly not realizing that Darth Ren had taken up the mantle of Sith Lord and Emperor. </p><p>“Emperor Ren, the last Skywalker.” He answers just before breaking  the neck of the stormtrooper captain with a flick of his wrist. There was no place for stupidity in the Final Order. Darth Ren looks to the trooper that had been standing next to the captain, “You heard my orders,.... captain….and while you’re at it, prepare my ship”</p><p>“Yes, Emperor! Right away!” The newly promoted stormtrooper responds, and scurries out of the throne room to do Darth Ren’s bidding.</p><p>As Darth Kylo Ren, Lord of the Sith seats himself on the throne and savors the moment. All I need now is an apprentice..</p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
Meanwhile on the other side of the galaxy, The ripple in the force that was created by the death of the last jedi was about to crash like a tsunami on a forgotten planet on the edge of the galaxy. </p><p>The archaeologists on the planet, not sensitive to the force and unaware of the war lost, are occupied with the exploration of an ancient tomb. This one appears to have been undisturbed for thousands of years. Dr. Liam Kadeu leads his expedition team of mostly graduate students into the dark tunnels. Liam is young for a professor, only 32, but has earned his position through years of dedication and hard work. It also helped that he is one of the few people who specialized in the study of the history of the jedi and sith orders of the old republic.  As he continues along, the dirt and rocks crunching beneath his boots, His flashlight reveals the remnants of an old computer terminal. </p><p>“I can’t believe it, this tomb is from before the galactic dark age” Liam says as he examines the terminal. “We must be getting close to something.”</p><p>As he continues his journey forward the tunnel opens up into an octagonal room, at the center of which is a dusty lightsaber sitting atop a stone pedestal. The archaeologists fan out to investigate all of the walls and corners of the room. </p><p>Liam walks up to the pedestal and stares in awe at the ancient saber. How is it that this is so well preserved? It looks like it might still work. He picks it up to appreciate the details of the hilt.</p><p>Suddenly, something is triggered by the removal of the saber from the pedestal. The whole room begins to shake and loose dust and rocks fall from the ceiling. From the floor behind the pedestal something rises. The quaking of the room stops when it clicks into place.</p><p>Liam walks up to it and cannot believe what he is seeing. “This is impossible.” I must be dreaming.</p><p>In front of him is an ancient stasis chamber that is filled with kolto, which had been the most powerful healing substance in the galaxy before the natural resource was depleted on the planet of Manaan. This was not even the most astonishing thing about it. Liam was entirely focused on the body of woman suspended in the kolto.  She was perfectly preserved and her body was barely covered by the tattered remains of a linen dress.</p><p>The others in the expedition team come over to gawk at the discovery.</p><p>“Dr. Kadeu, this woman can’t possibly be as old as the rest of the tomb, can it?” one of the students asked. </p><p>“The technology seems to line up with the age of the tomb. If she is from this era, she is the most perfectly preserved body ever found, absolutely stunning.” He stands inches from the glass, studying her facial features.</p><p>At that exact moment the ripple, now a tsunami, in the force makes contact with the planet. The archaeologists, having no force sensitivity, were completely oblivious. Any force sensitive being would have found themselves completely overwhelmed, feeling like their head was about to explode,  unable to see, hear, or do anything but ride the chaos of the wave until it passes. </p><p>Her eyes snap open.</p><p>The archaeologists jumped back in surprise and horror. The glass of chamber shatters and all of the kolto spills out, dumping the woman onto the floor of the tomb. Liam inches closer to women, almost not believing that he had just saw her open her eyes. She can’t possibly be alive, can she?</p><p>She stirs and then slowly picks herself up off the floor.  </p><p>Liam had no idea what to say, but felt like he needed to say or do something. “ummm...Hi..I’m..uhh Dr. Liam. Who are you?”</p><p>The woman doesn’t respond. Instead, with a confused look on her face, she looks about the room until the saber catches her eye. Liam had accidentally dropped it on the ground when he was surprised by her awakening. She picks it up and examines it. </p><p>“Revan…” She whispers, almost quiet enough for the others not to hear. With growing confidence she holds the saber out and activates it. The silver plasma blade lights up the room.</p><p>Finally, she clears her throat and looks directly to Dr. Kadeu. </p><p>“My name is Revan and I am here to finish what I started.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please comment and let me know what you thought of the story :-)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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